What is an ASIC miner?

In our previous article you learnt what mining was and what it was used for. Finally, you have seen how it is possible to become a miner. In this article, we will focus on a type of machine that can quickly mine cryptocurrencies. We are of course talking about the ASIC miner.

As you know, mining cryptocurrencies can be an exciting activity, but it must be profitable to make a living from it. The ideal way to maximize profitability is to have access to low-cost electricity, and above all to equip yourself with high-performance and energy-efficient components.

What is an ASIC ?

Now that it is no longer possible to make the mining of bitcoin profitable from a computer because of its poor performance, it is necessary to acquire a specialized machine for this type of activity, “ASIC” which means (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) is what I’m talking about.

The creator of the blockchain Satoshi Nakamoto, wanted Bitcoins to be mined from computer processors to ensure decentralized transactions. The technological advances has worked against Nakamoto’s vision. Indeed, as graphics cards became more and more powerful in terms of hash rate, they encouraged miners to equip themselves with them to mine cryptocurrencies different from Bitcoin. Subsequently, the graphics cards themselves were then overtaken by ASICs.

Nowadays, most bitcoin mining takes place through ASICs generally located on mining farms in cold countries such as Iceland or Canada, where the cost of electricity is low. Mining farms are warehouses that store a considerable number of mining equipment adapted to the maintenance of blockchain network servers.

How to find the best Bitcoin miner?

Some criteria are to be considered when buying the ideal ASIC miner for our needs.

Hash rate – How many hashes can the bitcoin miner perform per second? The more he can do, the higher are the costs: the performance of the equipment is therefore essential. The mining farms are clearly ahead of us, given the resources they deploy.

Efficiency – You need to purchase the most efficient bitcoin mining equipment possible, i.e. the largest hashing capacity possible within your budget.

Price – the price/performance ratios should be as high as possible in order to get a return on your initial investment fairly quickly. Take into account that a mining machine requires a lot of maintenance and that these quickly become obsolete as the transaction validation processes are updated. It is also wise to calculate the ratio of performance to electricity cost, which should be as low as possible. This means that you don’t have to focus on price to buy the most optimized machine for your needs.

Bitcoin miners for sale in second-hand markets

In case you would like to mine bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and you are looking for some mining rigs or ASICs to install at home, it is possible to find something interesting especially in case of a bear market on the second-hand market like Ebay, Leboncoin, Craigslist etc.

By buying on platforms like Ebay, you can buy new or used products while enjoying purchases security. In addition, you may be lucky enough to receive additional material in your purchase. However, please be very careful when buying on the second-hand market as many mining machines may be obsolete.

In view of what is written in the previous section, if you wish to mine bitcoins, we recommend to acquire the ASIC Antminer S7 or Antminer S9. You will see that you can buy 6 S7 machines instead of just one S9 machine and think you would save a lot of money. But you shouldn’t think that way because not only do you have to prepare yourself for the equipment necessary to optimize the installation of several ASICs but you will also experience a deafening noise every day and above all your electricity bill will explode. Indeed, it is better to buy a less powerful and expensive machine than several less expensive machines, because it will cost you much more in the future.

Profitability on the material

You can use a bitcoin mining profit calculator to obtain an estimation of the profitability of your equipment through the Coinwarzwebsite.

Be sure to consider the cost of electricity: most miners look like they are making a profit until the electricity bill arrives.

An effective miner

As previously explained earlier in the article, the higher the hash rate of the machine, the more power it will have to mine bitcoin. On the other hand, the electricity bill will also be high.

That’s why the electrical efficiency of the miner should not be underestimated, making it possible to reduce the need for energy power per hash to mine a bitcoin. In other words, the higher the number of watts per giga hash, the more effective the miner is.

For example, here are the most profitable miners and their different yields.

The Avalon 6 offers 0.29 Watt/GH, but costs $200 more than the Antminer S7.

The Antminer S7 is more efficient, with 0.25 Watt/GH. The Antminer is also cheaper and offers a hash power of 4.5 TH/s, which seems better, compared to the 3.50 TH/s of the Avalon 6.

The AntMiner S7 is clearly the preferred option between these two miners – both of whom are, by the way, the most profitable miners available for purchase.

Bitcoin miners’ manufacturing companies

Bitmain – Bitmain manufactures the Antminers. This company is based in China and operates a mining pool.

BitFury – BitFury is one of the largest manufacturer of electronic chips and other bitcoin mining equipment. Its products are not available for sale.

Spondoolies Tech – Spondoolies Tech is a mining equipment manufacturer based in Israel.

Bitcoin mining equipment

In addition to your ASIC miner, you need the right Bitcoin mining equipment.

Power supply – Bitcoin rigs have special power requirements, as they require power supplies that can provide enough power to power the components.

Fans – Mining equipment tends to overheat easily, which can lead to a risk of malfunction. Buy enough fans to ensure that your equipment will work properly. It should be taken into account that the more cooling equipment you have, the more impact it will have on your bill.

Mining bitcoins without equipment?

Given the computing power needed to mine cryptocurrencies, you would do more harm than good to your computer by mining with it. Believe us, there is no point in mining without specific equipment unless you learn how mining works in a short period of time. Your best option is to purchase dedicated equipment such as the Antminer S7 or Antminer S9.

USB Bitcoin Miners

The use of a USB miner on a computer was once a profitable way to mine bitcoins. However, USB miners no longer generate enough hash power to take advantages of the mining. In case you would like to obtain a USB miner for learning purposes, eBay or Amazon are the places to go to find a miner for a good price.

Buy Bitcoins

It should be kept in mind that bitcoin mining is an extremely competitive environment and that it is not necessarily the best idea for the average person. If you just want to own virtual currencies, it is better to think about buying bitcoins.

That’s the end of the article. Now you know what ASIC miners are and how they work. Finally, you know what different materials are available to optimize the profitability of mining for more professional purposes. We hope this article has been useful to you. Feel free to share with us in the comment section.

Passionate about digital technologies and thanks to my experiences as advisor in the crypto sector, my goal is to popularize this fascinating but nevertheless vague world to the general public as simply as possible